Reclamation: Rise of an Empire
by GhostWriterConsortium
Summary: Humanity has survived much but Now is the time of their rise to power. To reclaim what was lost and ensure that nothing can ever threaten them again. With new technology and new worlds to discover. They will encounter new problems and new enemies. The council of citadel races will discover new worlds and find themselves in the path of a giant. *( Small revision in the works)*
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay so here is my stab at a Halo/Mass effect crossover. Gotta say I'm a fan of these for some reason I find these two amazing universes blend very well together and I wanted to try my hand at it. There are already a lot of really good stories that are on this topic, I only hope I can meet that bar of excellence.**

**Before I kick this story off I'd like to say up front that I'm in no way a halo or Mass effect expert but I do know a good chunk of the lore behind both. I won't get too technical with the details of the tech or weaponry/ships. But that's not to say I won't go into detail. If anyone wishes to correct a lore related mistake or has suggestions on how to mold the story feel free to share.**

**Also I intend to stay away from the usual council is bad humans good type scenarios and try to offer a sort of grey area to both sides. Plus the Turians attack and then get there asses handed to them type scenario has been beaten to death in so many stories as it is, so I will try to stay unique and fresh with my progression. Any ways enough talk on with the story.**

**PS: My summary may need work I'm unsure. Also let me know what you think of the title.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything all rights belong to 343 studios and EA/Bioware. This is intended purely for enjoyment no infringement is intended.**

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><p>Almost three decades ago war was brought to our lands and from the unknown void came the greatest threat of our time, pushing us to the very brink. It was only through great sacrifice and the unbreakable courage of the countless men and women who rose to meet our enemy, only when our extinction seemed all but certain we gained an unlikely ally.<p>

Though the Sangheili were among the worst in the covenant and the brutality they inflicted was only exceeded by the Brutes, In the last days of the war they came to see the prophets true goal and realized they had been used and stood next to us to end the covenant threat once and for all.

We came from a world of giants always having to be on the defensive hiding or running away. But in the years since the war we have grown stronger new technology and weapons have ensured that we will no longer have to fear what stirs in the dark, Now we are the giants.

- speech given by Admiral Hood at the opening ceremony of the Great war memorial in Africa.

Captain Tom Lasky was still unsure of his new position as Captain of the infinity he had been utterly shocked when he had given the command. He had to admit it was nice to see Del Rio finally get what was coming to him many of the bridge crew had shared their protests with Lasky privately after leaving Requiem and the chief behind to fend for himself many felt they should have stayed and helped the chief. But orders were orders and they had a duty to serve.

When the infinity had arrived back at earth Lasky and Captain Del Rio were called to a meeting with high com were they wanted a report on the events since there last communication before the infinity was pulled into Requiem.

Del Rio gave his report and revealed that they had found the Chief on Requiem many of the admirals were shocked at that bit of information and when they demanded that he be brought into the meeting to give his report, Del Rio stated that he had violated orders and jumped ship before the infinity jumped back to earth.

"Captain, are you saying you abandoned one of humanities most decorated assets on an unknown world?" asked one of the admirals that sat next to lord Hood.

"I felt it necessary to report back to fleet com to give a report on the situation" Del Rio said with no real show of regret of his decision.

The admirals present were silent as they exchanged looks and whispered in hushed tones to one another.

Lasky off to the side was slightly shocked that Del Rio had the balls to brush off the Chief as if he was not worth anything. Lasky watched as Lord hood silenced the other admirals.

"Captain I find it hard to call it necessary to leave a member of the UNSC behind. It is worsened by the fact that it was the Master Chief himself." Lord hood said calmly but even Lasky could see the holes being bored into Del Rio by the admiral.

"With all do respect admiral the chief has violated numerous regulations and when his AI was found to be entering rampancy I ordered him to turn over the malfunctioning construct but refused. He disobeyed orders from a superior officer. Beyond that I have reason to believe he has suffered a mental break of some sort and..." Del Rio was cut off by Lord Hood

"That will be enough Captain, your complete and utter disrespect for the very man who ended the war is disturbing. Further more I here by re-leave you of your command pending a full review effective immediately. Guards take this man away." Hood said with a frown of growing disgust for the poor excuse of a captain as the guards made their way towards Del Rio.

"I was well with in my rights, that AI posed an imminent danger to the ship and crew. NO!, This is an OUTRAGE!" Del Rio stated in protest as he was hauled off while Lasky stood there wide-eyed in shock at what had just happened. He had no idea what to do or say in that moment and just stared back at the board of admirals suddenly feeling very under qualified to be in the room.

"Commander Lasky isn't it" Lord Hood asked as Lasky struggled to shake off the shock and quickly replied

"Uh..Yes sir, Tom Lasky" said Lasky giving a quick salute before standing at ease before the admirals

"Well commander it seems you've been promoted to Captain I want you to take command of battle group Dakota and go back and get are man. We owe him that" Hood said with a nod to Lasky.

"Me!.. Sir surely,...surely there are others more qualified" Lasky said in surprised stutter before his mind kicked in and he realized he had just attempted to question the head of the UNSC. Lord Hood gave a slight smirk at the reaction of the commander.

"Your more than qualified and according to your file you've been well over due for promotion as it is. You'll do fine... captain you're dismissed" Hood said effectively ending any further debate on the subject. Lasky's mind raced as he saluted and turned to leave.

Although there was no need to return to requiem as the Didact had found his way to earth shortly after followed by the Chief who stopped the Didact's attack but at the cost of losing Cortana which had severely crippled the Chiefs sense of purpose and seemed to have forced a change in him. Lasky could relate with the chief as he had lost someone to cadet Chyler Silva was someone he had considered a close friend maybe more if she had survived corbulo it was the Chief who made him realize even though she was gone it wasn't over.

Since that day it still hasn't set in even now six months after the battle with the didact Lasky still felt very out of place. He quickly checked over his uniform one more time and ended his thoughts about what had gotten him here as the door to the bridge opened and he stepped through.

The Bridge crew was hard at work going over last-minute details as they readied the ship and the rest of the battle group for the return to Requiem. High com had ordered that they return to the forerunner world and begin setting up a research base so the planet could be studied in more detail. It was unknown to what they would find there so every caution was being taken there was a support fleet on stand by should the Infinity need reinforcements but that would only be required in a worse case scenario Lasky felt confident in the mission plan. The battle group would drop out of slipspace over Requiem and hopefully catch the covenant defenders off guard and be able to take out a good number of the defenders before they could regroup.

"Roland, anything to report" Lasky asked as he approached the main holotable which showed the fleet in a real-time 3D image.

"Morning captain, Nothing to report the last of the supplies are being loaded as we speak and the last drop ship of Spartans is inbound." Roland said as he appeared next to the captain on the near by pedestal.

"Good I want to be under way as soon as possible tell the other ships to make ready and prepare for jump."

"Right away sir" Roland said as he disappeared to carry out his task.

**Infinity S-deck****-****during travel to Requiem**

Sarah Palmer had just dealt with the new hot-shot group of Spartans. fire team Majestic led by Paul DeMarco. After he tried to hit on her very unsuccessfully she quickly wiped them into action. She was still getting use to being commander of the spartan VI's but she was dealing with it better each day. She was hoping the chief would be present or at least make an appearance more often now that he was posted to the infinity. She felt very awkward around him as if he should be the one in charge but word was when they had offered him command he refused and said he would be more effective in the field. Palmer could understand that she often felt left out when it came to combat ops, but she wanted to do her job well. She was on her way to give her Spartans the brief on the operation ahead.

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><p><strong>Infinity bridge<strong>

"Captain we will be coming out of slip space in five seconds" Roland reported

Lasky watched as the infinity returned to real space and caught an unsuspecting covenant ship in its path as the full force of the infinity instantly destroyed the ship splitting it in half. Lasky gave a small frown and looked to Roland who just shrugged and gave a short cough as he tried to pretend to be busy.

**Infinity S-deck**

Many of the spartan VI fire-teams were loading onto pelicans to clear the way for the research teams to set up there toys. Sarah palmer was a bit disappointed that she would not be joining them on the ground but that was the price of command.

She was a bit surprised when the chief stopped next to her she glanced toward him briefly

"chief, good of you to show up" The chief just nodded

"how are things progressing" the chief asked

"Good I've got most teams going out. The rest will stay here for support for when things get ugly." palmer watched as the first of the pelicans left the hanger bay.

"Your not going with?" Palmer asked

"Lasky wants me here on standby" the chief said before quietly leaving. Palmer still had a bit of a hard time holding a conversation with the legendary soldier but she could tell he was different since she had first met him on requiem. Most likely having to do with the loss of Cortana.

**Infinity bridge**

Lasky could see the covenant forces begin to regroup after the infinity came out of slipspace literally right on top of them the remaining ships formed up and began to focus there fire on the infinity and her escorts, but Lasky had an ace up his sleeve.

"commander the word is given, launch" as soon as he had spoken the under side of the infinity opened and began to launch six frigates from inside the large hanger.

This was a surprise to the covenant shipmasters as now they were outnumbered and were being pushed back they would never surrender so they did what any covenant loyalist did they pushed forward on a suicide run. Between the infinity and the other ships they didn't stand a chance all were picked off and destroyed. With the orbit of Requiem secured the rest of the fleet took positions to launch its remaining troops and support.

"Captain all ground teams are away and the ODST's sent ahead of the main force are securing landing zones for are armour and vehicles." Roland reported Lasky was pleased the plan was going well but he knew they weren't out of danger yet the real test would be the ground war. It was unclear to what extent the covenant remnants had dug in or how well fortified their positions were also the status of the forerunner Promethean was unknown. Now that the Didact was dead would they still be a threat.

"Good notify me as soon as the first objectives have been taken. I'll be in my office until then" Lasky said as he made his way to the door of the bridge.

"Yes sir" Roland replied over the com

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><p>Lasky entered his office and sat heavily in his chair he was tired and it showed on his face. He grabbed a coffee and began to look over the reports that had began to pile up on his desk over the past week.<p>

Only an hour had passed before Roland appeared on Lasky's desk

"Captain some of the Ground teams are reporting some strange encounters." Lasky gave a look of confusion

"what are you talking about Roland. They've only been on the ground barely an hour, what could they have run into?" Lasky said as he pulled up a live map feed that gave up to the minute progress on the positions of the ground personal.

"I don't know what to make of it sir, but the teams on the ground are reporting that the covenant forces on the ground are fighting the Promethean s. While the prometheans seem to disregard are forces entirely its as if they're under orders to not engage are personnel. Between are forces and the prometheans we should be able to eliminate the covenant in a much shorter time frame than what we had initially projected." Roland said with a bit of confused shock something that wasn't common in AI's though it did happen from time to time.

"Well it looks like are plan just got thrown out the window send a report back to fleet and inform them of the situation. This may change everything, we need to get to the bottom of this." Lasky said as he left his reports and made for the bridge once more but turned back to Roland just before he left. "Oh and get the Chief up here he's the only real expert on the Prometheans we have right now."

"Right away sir" Roland said as he went to inform command and the Chief of the situation.

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><p>The Chief was checking over his gear and armour when Roland summoned him to the bridge per Lasky's orders he made his way to the bridge quickly. He had many commanding officers in his long career but Lasky he liked he was an honest and fair captain and cared about the safety and well-being of the men and women under his command. Unlike Del Rio who was clearly the self-serving type and regarded marines and Spartans alike as expendable and his attitude towards Cortana was something that didn't sit well with the Chief. He was glad that Lasky was now in charge.<p>

Chief exited the lift to the bridge and entered to see Lasky and Roland at the main holotable with a projection showing Requiem. The Chief came to a stop behind Lasky and came to attention.

"Sir" Chief said as he saluted to which Lasky just waved off as he still couldn't get use to the fact that he now outranked the Spartan.

"At ease Chief, I told you. you don't have to Salute me as far as I'm concerned you far out rank me. But I understand the need for formality."

The Chief didn't say anything and just joined the group by standing opposite of Lasky on the other side of the table as Lasky filled in the chief on the current situation.

"It looks as thought the Promethean on Requiem are no longer treating are forces as a threat and have only attacked the remaining covenant forces. Have you seen anything like this in any of your encounters with them Chief?" Lasky looked to the chief

The Chief was surprised but couldn't recall them ever acting this way cortana would know more about this sort of thing she had been inside of Requiems systems before and would have a better idea of what was going on. Yet another sad realization that she was gone hit the chief but he pushed it aside and focused on the matter at hand.

"No sir, I can't say that I have." chief said. Lasky was not surprised he guessed this would be a curve ball situation.

Roland decided to cut in "Captain the last of the covenant forces have been eliminated and the Promethean s are.. leaving or at least retreating to some unknown location I can't track them once they teleport out. Should I have the teams try to... "Roland suddenly stopped talking which caused Lasky to glance towards the Chief but before Lasky could say anything Roland returned from his sudden trance.

"Captain I'm picking up a strange signal it seems to be originating from Requiem itself. One moment narrowing it down. Got it, Sir I have the coordinates of the signal. Fire team Majestic is closest should I send them to investigate."

"Do it Roland and let them know I'm sending the Chief along with team Crimson to back them up." Lasky said and just looked to the Chief who nodded and left to grab his gear.

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><p><strong>Requiem surface – Fireteam Majestic<strong>

DeMarco was not happy that they had to wait on back up from Crimson. He tried to explain that Majestic could handle the job but Palmer shot him down and said it was an order from Lasky himself. Figures.

"Ah, man this sucks why do we always have to work with Crimson. I mean those guys always get the good jobs." DeMarco said with frustration.

Thorne who was watching for the pelican that would be arriving with Crimson was becoming increasing annoyed with DeMarco's ongoing feud with Fireteam Crimson.

"You got to let it go man, so they beat us at the war game assessment last month. Time to let it go and move on." Thorne said as he shook his head at DeMarco who only frowned and stayed quiet.

"Hey, heads up Pelican inbound" Hoya called out as everyone looked to the incoming pelican approaching their position low and fast coming to a hover and rotating so the rear ramp would touch the edge of the ridge Majestic was on. As soon as it was down fire team Crimson filed out with the Chief bringing up the rear. Everyone on Majestic was stunned DeMarco was lucky that he had his helmet on or else everyone would be able to see his mouth hanging open at the shock of the legend before them.

Crimson stood off to the side awaiting orders from the Chief while majestic got over their shock and throne having nudged DeMarco out of his trance both Fire teams assembled and waited for the Chief.

"We have are orders, investigate the signal and find whats causing it. Be ready and stay alert, move out loose spacing." the Chief and Crimson started out while Majestic followed.

It was a ways to the coordinates provided by Roland but they were nearing their destination having only encountered a few covenant stragglers nothing they couldn't handle. They still hadn't come across any Prometheans. The Chief wondered if something was compelling them to retreat or was something controlling them some how. One of the members of Crimson that was on point suddenly stopped and held up a hand signalling the others to halt. The Chief made his way to the front to see what was up ahead.

The Spartans were positioned on a small bluff that looked out over a forerunner building, out front were a few grunts milling about while three elites seemed to be in a discussion by the way they were grouped. There were also a few Jackals on the upper platforms keeping watch.

The Chief confirmed that the signal was coming from the building and knew they had to deal with the covenant in order to investigate. He turned back to the group and silently ordered Crimson and Majestic to split up into three teams part of crimson would flank right while half of Majestic flanked left. The Chief and the rest of both teams would go straight up the middle once both flanking groups took out the snipers so the main group in the middle could move on the building quickly before they could raise any alarms.

Both flanking teams signalled when they were in position and the chief silently gave the signal for both teams to take the two snipers. Within a few seconds of giving the order two shots rang out causing the group of grunts to jump in terrified shock as they began to scramble about chaotic. None of them noticed the third group of spartans led by the Chief moving quickly from the treeline mercilessly dispatching their comrades a few grunts tried to run for the building to seek a place to cower but they were cut down by accurate bursts from the Spartans who had regrouped together and had pushed up to the building.

"Clear" Madsen said as he kicked one of the dead grunts.

"the three elites fell back into the structure sir." a member of crimson stated as they covered the door. The Chief and the rest of the Spartans entered the structure to root out the elites. The Chief switched to internal helmet coms and disabled external speakers.

"Careful the elites may have cloaked, keep tight." the chief said over the com as everyone else acknowledged.

The interior of the structure resembled many of the other structures on Requiem but held a slightly different style. The main room was larger and had a raised platform in the middle. Everything seemed to lead upwards toward the platform. While smaller alcoves lined the sides and back of the room.

The group had made it to one of the only two pathways leading up towards the platform with no sign of movement. They both split up crimson and the Chief taking left while Majestic took right. Checking for any sign of movement as they both reached the top platform. They found nothing.

"What gives, where are they?" but before anyone could answer two plasma grenades landed in the middle of the group.

"Grenade!" one of them called out and instantly they all scattered away barely having time to recover as two of the elites each dual wielding covenant plasma rifles laid down a blanket of fire as the hot plasma rounds.

The Spartans quickly returned fire just as the elites re activated their cloak and disappeared again. There was a moment of complete silence as everyone scanned the room looking for the smallest sign of the telltale shimmer that was common with covenant cloaking devices.

Throne was on the far right side of the group as he scanned his field of fire he caught just the barest deformation and quickly let loose a quick burst of fire and was rewarded with the rounds impacting the elites shields. This enraged the warrior and as if appearing out of nowhere all three elites de-cloaked and charged the Spartans it was then that the Spartans could make out that the elites were zealot class and were most likely veteran warriors who would fight to the death.

The Elites closed on the group the two dual wielding elites flanked a third how had a plasma rifle in one hand and a plasma sword in the other. The elite with the sword set his sights on the chief while the other two let loose a torrent of fire towards Crimson and majestic but with concentrated fire from either team they were dropped quickly both teams turned to aid the Chief who was defending against close slashes from the plasma sword he was being pushed back as the Elite warrior pressed forward having overheated the plasma rifle the elite tossed it aside and gave a determined growl. The chief duck down as the elite tried to slash the spartan in half. The chief recovered only just in time to block a downward slash with his rifle having no other means of defence. The combat rifle was cut in half like butter while the elite landed a strong kick to the chiefs chest launching him off of the upper platform and landing down below the elite jumped down in pursuit in tent on claiming his kill.

The Chief landed hard leaving a barely noticeable dent in the metallic flooring. He quickly recovered and pulled out his pistol. The elite landed right in front of him and reactivated his cloak. The chief immediately fire where the elite had been but it had already relocated the chief. Looked all around as the adrenaline coursed in his blood the voices from his com in his helmet was faint and sounded distant. His heartbeat was loud and seemed to increase as more adrenaline was absorbed. Time almost seemed to slow as he heard the discharge of a covenant cloak behind him the chief dove out of the way into a low crouch as he emptied his pistol into the elites shield which was shattered as the last round penetrated and hit the elite in the shoulder though it did little to stop it as it charged forward with no shield. But was cut down just before it was able to reach the chief the body slid the rest of the way stopping just in front of the Chief who looked at it for a moment then looked to the spartan who just saved him. Standing behind the elite was Thorne who lowered his weapon and just nodded to the chief who returned the gesture in kind. The heavy foot steps of the others were heard as they soon arrived.

"Jesus, that's a lot of stairs" DeMarco said slightly winded as he realized the fight was over.

"orders sir?" the leader of crimson said as the chief stood and holstered his empty pistol.

"we continue as before, find the signal and secure it." the chief said as another member of crimson handed the chief one of the recovered plasma rifles. The Spartans returned to the top only to find the same as before nothing. The chief looked around spotted a glowing symbol on the back wall of the platform, the chief approached the symbol and touched it.

The entire back wall shifted and reassembled, revealing a hidden chamber with a large glowing object that seemed to be pulsating.

"Is this the source of the signal" Hoya asked aloud as the Spartans stood surrounding the object.

"lets call for recovery and take this thing back to the infinity they'll know what to do." the chief said as he radioed command for pick up.

"Infinity this is sierra 117 requesting pick up and recovery we have located an unknown forerunner object, appears to be the source of the signal recommend a research team be dispatched with the recovery team."

"copy, sierra, recovery is en route sit tight."

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> **okay so that's the first chapter. Hope the small action bit at the end was okay I still find my action scenes to be well...meh, let me know what you all think. I am looking for a beta for this story as well so if anyone feels up to it send me a PM, But if not its no problem.**

**Stay tuned Much more to come next chapter will be from the ME side and will build like this until both side meet one another. I have many interesting things planned.**

**Comment, review, subscribe.**


	2. Oops !

Hello everyone, I'd like to say that I am shamefully embarrassed about the state at which I posted the first chapter of this story. I was not fully done my edit when I had posted it last night. I had been out that night to a Christmas party and well I had a few too many and decided too post my new story before I went to bed. I found out only earlier today what I had done and face palmed very hard. So I am here to say that I will finish my edit at once and have a much better read up shortly.

Again I apologise greatly for my posting.

Hope this won't turn any of you off following this story in the future.

**Update : I now have a beta for this story and will be posting my cleaner updated first chapter within the next week or so after Christmas. The next chapter will follow soon after. **

**Merry Christmas ! **


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